Press Release

Manasquan, N.J., USA, May 10, 2006 – Since the mid-1980s, health policy experts have advised corporate healthcare purchasers to consider both cost and quality-of-care data when purchasing healthcare. Today, savvy consumers expect payors and providers to furnish reliable quality and comparative performance data on their web sites to support them in their healthcare decisions. But corporate pushback, technology requirements and the challenge of obtaining reliable data can prove daunting to many organizations.

To guide healthcare organizations through the complex process of publishing healthcare data, the Healthcare Intelligence Network (HIN) is sponsoring “Healthcare Report Cards: How To Get an A+ in the Public Reporting of Healthcare Quality Data,” a 90-minute live audio conference on June 7, 2006. For more information, please visit the HIN bookstore.

While the public reporting of healthcare quality data is currently voluntary, more and more organizations are making this data available and some industry experts believe it is just a matter of time before it is mandatory. To help payors and providers navigate the challenges of this process, Paul L. Green, principal with Greenlight Healthcare Consulting and Christine Profit-Orok, project leader of cost and quality at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, will discuss the purpose of publicly posting performance data and the steps necessary to launch public report cards.

The value of healthcare report cards has been a recurring theme during HIN-sponsored audio conferences on pay for performance, consumer-driven healthcare and quality improvement, says Melanie Matthews, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the healthcare publishing organization. But the results of HIN’s February 2006 online survey persuaded Matthews to further investigate this trend. “One-third of the healthcare organizations responding to our survey on quality report card use said they currently post this data on their web sites, and another 25 percent plan to do so later this year,” said Matthews. “At the same time, many respondents said they’re concerned about the validity and reliability of the posted data and see a need for unified measurement criteria,” she added.

HIN’s February 2006 survey respondents also said that posting quality data boosts their patient and member enrollment, increases staff awareness of performance issues and helps them set organizational benchmarks.

During this 90-minute audio conference, Green and Profit-Orok will also provide details on:

• Evaluating the types of healthcare quality data to post;
• Analyzing the impact that posting healthcare report cards can have on an organization;
• Overcoming the roadblocks to report card implementation;
• Getting consumers to use the information; and
• Lessons learned from making report cards publicly available.

For those who miss the live conference, an on-demand rebroadcast can be accessed beginning June 9, 2006, and a CD-ROM recording with printed transcript will be available in late June. To register and obtain details on audio conference formats, please visit: the HIN bookstore.

About the Healthcare Intelligence Network---HIN is the premier advisory service for executives seeking high-quality strategic information on the business of healthcare. For more information, contact the Healthcare Intelligence Network, PO Box 1442, Wall Township, NJ 07719-1442, (888) 446-3530, fax (732) 292-3073, e-mail info@hin.com, or visit http://www.hin.com.

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Contact: Patricia Donovan